Impact Award from Capital Area Michigan Works!

Cristo Rey recently received an Impact Award from Capital Area Michigan Works! The award recognizes those within the state of Michigan who have worked especially hard within their communities to create jobs and help others gain hands-on developmental experience.

Cristo Rey received the award through the efforts of one local dedicated student, Demeika Merriwether, her CRCC mentor, Rhonda Dyer, and the Lansing School District. Together, Cristo Rey was able to create positive experiences for Lansing youth and give them an opportunity to work on meaningful, educational projects and activities.
As a high school student, Dameika worked with kids in the community throughout a summer youth program at Cristo Rey. Her positive attitude made her the perfect leader for educational activities. She mentored kids, led activities, organized educational projects and helped youth get a taste of a variety of cultures through experiencing foods from other countries. She herself was in foster care and has empathy for kids in the CRCC youth program that were overcoming their own obstacles. The program gave her an opportunity to support other kids while gaining valuable leadership experience. Her hard work led to her success in receiving multiple scholarships and moving on to college where she plans to study law.

mentor, Rhona Dyer, left, Michigan Works!, Mary Zeineh, right

Dameika was able to give back to her community and create this positive success story for herself and others with help from the Lansing School District, who places students like Dameika at various locations, such as CRCC, to work, and teach them the importance of time management and staying on task at a young age.